


The Wild No One Knows

by MellytheHun



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Hale Family, And violence, Angst, Family Shenanigans, Lots of it, M/M, Mates, Minor Character Death, No Smut, Semi-Sad Ending, Ugh, canon compliant deaths, fluff too though, just cursing, just read it, kind of, sterek, tell me what to tag it, this is your warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-13
Updated: 2014-09-12
Packaged: 2018-02-17 04:38:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2296976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MellytheHun/pseuds/MellytheHun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My tumblr soulmate, Silvana (canislupisx), sent me this prompt on tumblr:</p>
<p>Alrighty. Specific. A Sterek fic where Stiles is the new kid along with Allison, secretly a hunter. He was adopted by the Argents after his family was killed by werewolves, but he doesn’t agree with their Code. Gerard tells him to find out the werewolves in school, but he doesn’t want to kill them. So he makes sure to stay away, even if it means being cruel and indifferent. Derek’s not sure at first, but sees he’s different, that Stiles doesn’t want to hurt them. With Alive!Hale pack :D Oh and like Stiles never killed any werewolves. He just like found a way to save them from Gerard or something. I'm so sorry if this is too specific Melanie xp And he tries really hard to get Derek to stay away from him, even trying to threaten him, even when he's falling hard for the wolf.</p>
<p>SO</p>
<p>Basically, in this AU, Stiles is meeting Derek when Kate would’ve been meeting Derek. There’s so much angst, I’m so sorry.</p>
<p>So, the story about how werewolf hunter Stiles Argent finds and falls in love with his mate, Derek Hale and everything goes wrong because I am awful 100% of the time, told in startlingly long ten parts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Introduction

**1\. The introduction**

"Oh, God," Laura sneers, "What is that _smell_?"

"What _is_ that smell?"

She glances around the classroom in fearful confusion, then to Derek, next to her and he looks dazed. His eyes are glazed over and glowing dimly, his jaw is slack and his shoulders are lax. He closes his eyes and breathes deeply and murmurs,

"Smells good. _Really_ good. Smells like…"

Laura watches in astonishment as the classroom door opens to two new students and Derek's eyes open and focus on the boy in the pair. She knows he's going to say it before he actually whispers,

"Mate."

She grabs his upper arm and shoves past the two new students, taking Derek into the hall. She can hear his heart making big, shallow booms and his scent is thickening and becoming slightly less familiar. She shoves him into the handicapped bathroom, which is a single bathroom across the hall from their class.

She locks the door behind them and helps Derek settle onto the ground. He can hardly hold himself upright. His eyes flickering in and out of their bright, electric blue and his fangs poking out of his gums. Laura shakes him a little by the shoulders and says,

"Derek – hey, snap out of it."

"I can't – can't –" His pupils dilate massively and he makes a quick whining noise before he mutters, "I have to touch him. I have to get close to him."

He goes to stand, but Laura pushes him back down.

"No!"

Derek looks at her pleadingly, "Please?"

"No, Derek!" She scolds.

She sighs and brushes his soft hair, then says,

"Breathe deep for a while, okay? I… look, after Paige…I just want to keep you safe, Derek. We have to go talk to mom about this."

Derek's face loses color and his eyes stop flickering. His fangs are still hanging and his muscles are tense and wired. Laura knows it's a testament to how much control it's taking to not run past her and take what he thinks is his.

"She'll know what to do."

* * *

"The two that just ran out."

"Really?" Stiles asks.

Allison nods and whispers more closely,

"The boy is in distress. He may have smelled wolfsbane on us."

"They don't usually react like that to the smell of wolfsbane," Stiles mentions.

Allison nods and says, "It could be something else, but no matter what, I saw his eyes glowing and he was curling his fingers in. He was probably hiding his claws."

"What would make one turn like that in public?" Stiles wonders, chewing on his pen.

"Whatever it is, it doesn't matter. Once Gerard knows we've already found two, they'll be gone faster than we can ask what makes a werewolf tick."

Stiles knows that's true. He and Allison look at each other grimly. He knows she doesn't like the way Gerard does things either and he's on thin ice for having let two omegas get away just a month ago. He knows he'll be spending the rest of the day trying to figure out a way to keep this from Gerard.


	2. The Recognition

**2\. The recognition**

Derek, after the first meeting of his mate, is not allowed to go anywhere unsupervised. He fights it and argues the issue nonstop, but it doesn't help. Laura, as it turns out, is the most lenient of his babysitters. When Laura explains that the two new kids are Allison and Stiles Argent, Talia shakes her head and looks deeply troubled. She looks pitifully at Derek and utters, "I'm so sorry, Derek," before laying down the rules about Derek's supervised existence.

He's in the grocery store with Laura when he catches that tantalizing scent. Laura must catch it at the same time, because she looks up as soon as he catches it.

He looks to her quickly before deciding he wants to risk everything and takes off in a run. He can hear Laura chasing after him and he knows he's being stared at by everyone he passes, but he can't bring himself to care. All he can think of is that boy's upturned nose and his freckles and beauty marks and adam's apple and sweet, sweet scent.

He wants Stiles.

He wants Stiles to like him, to trust him. He wants Stiles to want him and he wants Stiles to love him. He jumps over an arranged pyramid of Campbell's soup cans and once he's on the other side of it, he knocks them all over to slow down his sister.

He turns another corner and comes to a skidding halt in front of Stiles and Allison. They have a small basket, being held by Allison and they're staring wide-eyed at him. He is struggling to keep his supernatural traits under covers, but he knows it's worth it.

God, it's so worth it.

It's so worth it to be this close. To look into Stiles' eyes. To have his attention.

"Uh. Hi," Allison says awkwardly.

Derek raises his hand and half-waves in her direction, but keeps staring at Stiles. He clears his throat and Stiles can see Derek's jugular bouncing on his neck. He wonders what is going on with this one.

"Hi, Stiles," Derek barely manages.

Laura finally arrives, disheveled and looking vengeful. She grabs Derek by his shoulder and emits a low growl, quiet enough only to be picked up by Derek. She looks at Allison and Stiles and nods, and says,

"Sorry about this one. He's uh…"

She looks at Derek, whose eyes are stuck on Stiles' and fails to come up with a sufficient explanation.

"So – anyway, I'll just get him out of your way."

She takes Derek by his shoulders and maneuvers him back down the aisle. He looks over his shoulder, back to Stiles and his heart beats fast. Everything in him coils up again, the further he gets. He wants to be close again. He wants to hear Stiles breathing. He wants to feel Stiles close to him.

Stiles watches until Derek goes around a corner and Allison says, very quietly,

"You're his mate."

"Fuck."


	3. The Touch

**3\. The touch**

So, Derek Hale is a little creepy. Nothing Stiles is scared by. Derek just happens to be everywhere Stiles goes.

Like, when Stiles joins the lacrosse team (only because Allison practically shoves him into the gym during try-outs), Derek Hale is suddenly _very_ interested in lacrosse. Stiles finds a brand-spankin' new lacrosse stick resting against his locker after Trig one day. He doesn't have to wonder long about who might've done that. Then he notices that whenever he's in the hall, Derek happens to be there too. Wandering aimlessly. No pass, no purpose.

Stiles pretends not to notice Derek walking by lacrosse practices, even though he knows it's in the direction opposite of Derek's home.

It would also appear that Derek has either threatened or bribed everyone to allow Stiles a front position in the lunch line. In their first period class that they share, AP history, Derek… what — peacocks? Stiles isn't sure. Allison smirks at it and Stiles kicks her feet under their desks for it. Derek definitely likes looking to Stiles for approval after he's given a particularly eloquent answer and he does this infuriatingly charming wink whenever Stiles answers something correctly.

After he complains loudly in the hall to Allison about Mr. Harris being a dick about grading his projects, he spots Derek passing and the next week, his grade is raised from a C- to a B+. Now, he's not saying that Derek is behind that, but there is a very real possibility that he is.

No matter how close Derek gets to him, though, he never approaches Stiles. Little hand-waves, winks and chin-nods of acknowledgement, but it appears that Laura keeps Derek from going up to him. He doesn't know if he's grateful or not for it.

The first month of school passes like that. He's thinking that Derek Hale is a lot weird, a little desperate and somewhat romantic, btu definitely overreacting. He doesn't know anything about Were mating, but he feels like this is an extreme. Until one day, after gym.

When Derek gets close to him, he feels it. He feels it immediately.

"Jesus Christ, Hale! You're not even _in_ this class!"

Stiles is pushed up against the lockers, towards the back of the locker room. Hale doesn't have gym class with him, but for some ungodly reason, here he is. Hale is pressed up against him, using his dense muscle weight to keep him still. He isn't doing anything untoward, really, he's just smelling Stiles' neck. In truth, though, Stiles has never been so close to a Were before.

As soon as Derek came into his space, he felt the tie. He felt every nerve ending erupt and excite and when Derek's hands clasped his wrists, his muscles spasmed pleasantly, his eyes rolled back a little. His heart is pounding, he knows he's unequipped to fight Derek as he is (half naked and unarmed), so he is hoping he survives long enough to wait it out.

"I know," Derek replies, "I'm sorry. I need to get close to you. I've never had to deal with something like this before."

Stiles thinks he feels the tip of Derek's tongue on his neck, but he could be wrong.

"Something like what?"

"Don't play dumb. I already know you know. I heard you, in the store a few weeks ago. I know you know."

"Then you know you have to leave me alone," Stiles warns.

He doesn't want Derek to back away, though. He doesn't want Derek to leave him alone. In fact, he's never wanted someone's company so badly in his life. Where Derek's body meets his, there is electricity and it's as if a swarm of hummingbirds have been set loose in his ribs.

"I can't. I can't stay away. I can control it enough now, even my mother says so. I can be near you, like this. I won't hurt you."

Derek trails his nose up the column of Stiles' neck, along his cheek and then backs his face away just enough to gaze into Stiles' eyes. Stiles' sees the electric blue glow and he is washed with cold terror.

"You've killed someone."

Derek looks wounded. His eyes lose their glow and Stiles can almost visibly see the walls come flying up around Derek. He looks a little mortified, a little horrified with himself. He shakes his head and struggles to keep his stare with Stiles. Stiles doesn't move; he's never seen a Were act like this.

"I didn't — I — didn't want to. I didn't want to. I can't…" He moves his eyes away and his hands are twitching.

Stiles notices the claws that Derek keeps piercing into his own palms. He doesn't remember feeling them on his wrists a moment ago. Then again, there was a lot to feel a few minutes ago and it may have slipped his notice.

"You can't be near me, Derek."

Devastation floods Derek's eyes, but his face sinks into a defensive stoicism. He mutters,

"I'm trying."

"Try harder," Stiles bites.

"I have been given permission from my Alpha — I'm ready enough, I'm ready enough to be near you."

"I don't _want_ you near me!" Stiles lies.

Derek goes to move closer to him again, but Stiles stops him with a chilly glare.

"I'll kill you," Stiles starts, pointing with a shaking hand, "I will kill you if you come near me again."

"You're lying," Derek counters.

Stiles glares.

By the way Derek's face falls, he can tell that Derek knows he's lying about killing him (because Stiles has never killed a Were and has no desire to), but that he is truly petrified of him. Derek may feel confident enough to be near Stiles, like he's in control of himself, but Stiles sees those electric eyes and wants to run the other way. He doesn't know anything about Derek and Derek is an animal to him. Just an animal.

Derek nods, resigned. He feels the rejection cut deep into him. He goes to leave, but pauses. He turns back to Stiles and gestures vaguely towards his eyes and says,

"I wouldn't… I never wanted to… I never _meant_ to hurt her. And I'd never mean to hurt _you_. I'm sorry if I did."

"You don't wanna hurt me?" Stiles asks.

Derek shakes his head and looks hopeful for a second, then Stiles sticks up his chin and finishes, "Then stay _far_ the fuck away from me."

Derek pauses, looks a bit smaller, then nods again and steals a last glance before he leaves. Stiles slumps against the lockers once Derek is out of sight.

His hands are shaking and his heart is pumping loudly. At the same time that he's terrified to have been so close to an unpredictable Were, at the same time that he's relieved to have survived the encounter, he wonders if he was too harsh.

He feels cold without Derek now. He's aching for that feeling of being close to him, just in the same room as him. When Derek was close, when he was in Stiles' space, it was divine. It was sublime when Derek's nose trailed his neck and shoulder, when Derek's hands were gentle but stern around his wrists. He wonders what ecstasy lies in kissing Derek. What irresistible and addictive pleasure hides in being held by Derek wholly and sharing his body with him.

He feels very alone in the locker room. He feels worried that he'll never feel that amazing bond again.

His adoptive family hunts supernatural creatures, sure, but they were just animals to him. They were just things that science couldn't explain yet. Weres were always dangerous predators of the wild that no one knew.

But now, he's been pinned by Derek's gaze and touched by Derek's hands.

And it's the closest he's ever been to believing in magic.


	4. The Distance

**4\. The distance**

Weeks go by.

_Weeks_.

Derek changes his class schedule and, for some reason, it really stings. Stiles knows he sent Derek away, but he wasn't prepared to not see him _at all_. After a month of not even passing him in the hall, he wonders if Derek actually ever existed. Maybe he was just a figment of Stiles' fucked up imagination.

He's really fairly content to believe that, until one day, Stiles catches himself trying to convince Allison that he's not purposely staying after school to see Derek in basketball practice. He waits through the entire practice, pacing outside the gym doors, but at the end of it, a player, Isaac, tells him that Derek quit the team a few weeks back. Stiles' heart sinks.

He bumps into Laura in the hall one day, and after helping her pick up her papers that slipped from her notebooks, he asks if Derek is doing okay. Laura scowls at him dangerously and she says, with all the malice a person can muster into a single sentence,

"Don't you ever ask me about him."

He's chilled to the bone by her. The way her shoulders are squared, he knows she's trying to protect Derek. She doesn't care about Stiles. All she knows of him is that he knows about the bond and sent Derek away for it. She looks down her nose at him a minute, then adds,

"And don't come up to me again. He smells when any of us have been within a five mile radius of you."

So Stiles avoids her too.

It takes a week or so, but Allison notices Stiles' shaking hands and the far-away look in his eyes. She notices his already poor ability to pay attention get poorer and she knows he's not sleeping at night, because his unrest fills the hall of the bedrooms with tension. She tells Gerard and her father, in the hopes that they will know what to do. In the hopes that, maybe this one time, they won't hurt anyone.

"It's okay, Stiles," Chris tells him at the dinner table, "It has happened to hunters before."

"Really?" Stiles asks.

Gerard nods and tells him, "I am going to do some investigating into whether or not the bond can be broken between mates. While I do that, though, you ought to use this bond to collect intel on him and his pack. The Hale pack is very well respected in the Were community and if he wants you around, you should take advantage of that. We can never learn enough."

Stiles hesitates before nodding and eating quietly. It doesn't feel right, but no orders from Gerard ever feel right.


	5. The Imitation

**5\. The Imitation**

Stiles is the one who waits in the locker room this time. And when Derek spots him, he pales. His chest goes so still, Stiles is quite sure he's stopped breathing. His jugular is bouncing again, his muscles are tensing and then he's running out of the locker room.

Stiles gives chase and follows Derek out onto the field. No one is left out there and no one is there to see Derek's glowing eyes but him. Derek's fangs are showing and his claws are stretching and he glares at Stiles,

"What are you doing here? Get away!"

Stiles' heart starts flipping nervously. He doesn't like the idea of being so close to a Were that isn't in control of their shift.

"Are – Are you okay?"

"Does it fucking matter?!" Derek barks.

He goes to the bleachers and hides in the shade beneath them. Stiles follows him and watches Derek seat himself on the dirt. Derek is struggling to breathe through whatever is happening to him and Stiles thinks it looks a lot like a panic attack. Something he knows all too well.

"Are you okay? What can I do to help?"

"You can start by getting away from me," Derek growls.

Stiles debates that. He thinks it would probably be the smartest thing to do. Any hunter would be long gone by now. He has always loved to straddle that danger-line, though. The line between stupid and brave, between exciting and lethal. He kneels down and crawls up to Derek. As soon as he's within a few inches of Derek, Derek seethes and flinches away. His eyes and voice are watery when he pleads,

" _Don't_ come near me. Please. I've been _good_ — I've stayed away, why are you doing this to me?"

Stiles doesn't have words for that. He can't come up with the right thing to say, so he just asks,

"Can I touch you?"

Derek freezes and doesn't answer. Stiles battles his instincts and reaches out. He puts his hand on Derek's neck and the world is warm again. His bones tingle, his lungs widen and his heart pounds while all the colors around him richen. It's like his senses are returning to him. Derek's eyes flutter shut and as soon as his long, dark lashes brush his cheeks, a tear rolls down. He breathes out a heavy, tired sigh and Stiles is amazed by the visible relief such a simple touch gives Derek. Stiles parts Derek's knees, that are brought up to his chest and settles there. He pulls Derek into a hug and it's like growing a pair wings.

Derek's arms curl up his back and his hands grasp at him tightly. His own hands grip onto Derek's hair and neck and he holds them there. Derek knocks him over, gently and climbs on top of him. He lowers his body slowly, like he's getting into a hot, hot bath. He nuzzles his nose against Stiles' and his lips are so close, Stiles' is vibrating with the anticipation of kissing them. He runs his hands through Derek's hair and tilts his face, to let Derek kiss him. He doesn't, though.

He shakes his head a little and whispers,

"No. You don't like me. Mate or not. I won't kiss you."

Stiles frowns.

He wasn't expecting that.

"Please?"

Derek makes an animalistic whine and ducks his head down, dropping his stare. He eventually picks himself back up, eyes closed and declines with another, "No."

"Open your eyes."

"I can feel them changing. You don't like it. It scared you."

"Yeah, man, you're kind of a dangerous creature my family has raised me to believe should be wiped off the face of the Earth through genocide. You're a little scary to me. Show me anyway," Stiles tells him.

Derek's brows furrow a little worriedly, but he does. He opens his eyes and in the relative calm of this situation, this close up, Stiles gets hypnotized by them. They're more than blue. Derek's eyes shine and shimmer like glacier ice, there are turquoise greens and it looks almost like it's moving – like his irises have their own tides. He touches Derek's face, pets his cheek and when he does, it pulls Derek's lips apart just enough to see a hint of his fangs. He thinks they make Derek's lips look fuller. He finds them eerily beautiful.

"They're wonderful."

Derek shakes his head and says, "They're my dishonor. They're ugly."

"No," Stiles refuses, "They're not – really. Really, Derek. They're beautiful."

"Paige was beautiful."

Stiles quirks a brow until he realizes that this must be the 'she' Derek has implied himself as having killed. Derek is looking him in the eye and the glow and electric colors fade. His fangs sink away into his gums. His muscles start to tense again and his eyes, green and blue and grey and kaleidoscope start to water.

"Paige was beautiful. My eyes used to be beautiful like her. She was perfect. And now the whole world can know that I destroyed something perfect. I'm a lighthouse and the only light I give means disaster."

He gets up and off of Stiles and brushes his knees. He looks down at Stiles and says,

"I don't know what you want from me. I did what you asked. Did you seek me out just to torment me like this?"

"No!" Stiles argues hurriedly, "No! I… I think I made a mistake."

Derek looks at him appraisingly while he continues, "I'm sorry. That I pushed you away. I just… maybe… you'd feel like giving me another shot at this?"

"What is _this_?"

"I don't know," Stiles shrugs, "But I want… to be around you. Again. Please."

Derek looks wary when he asks softly, "Is this a trap?"

"Well, A) I wouldn't tell you if you were about to walk into a trap, and B) no, it's not a trap, because I don't have a plan. I literally did not think this through even a little. I should have. And that is why we ended up on the ground, outside. Because I have thought so little about this, that I didn't consider what you might do when you saw me in a place I shouldn't have been."

Derek nods slowly. He says,

"My sister won't like this. She's mad at you."

"Yeah, I got that feeling."

"No, not Laura."

"There are more?"

Derek gives him a strange look at that. Stiles realizes too late that the sentence itself may have sounded a bit impersonal.

"There are twelve of us," Derek tells him easily.

"Twelve?!" Stiles shoots up into a sitting position.

Derek nods and lists off, "My grandmother Elizabeth, my mother Talia, my father Dominic, my uncle Peter, my aunt Jane, my cousin Andrew, my baby cousins Shannon and Noah, my older brother Michael, my older sister Laura, my younger sister Cora and myself."

"I don't believe you."

Derek chuckles and asks, "What do you mean you don't believe me?"

"That sounds like a circus act, I don't believe you."

"Come meet them, then."

Stiles' heart skips a beat and Derek must hear it, because he looks unsure then.

"Unless you don't – "

"No! I do. I so do. I am all about it. Yes. When can I? When?"

Derek smiles shyly in a way that makes Stiles' stomach twist up nervously. He's growing so fond of Derek and he really has no right to be so charming. He can hear Gerard's orders in his head, though. He knows what this is all for.

"Tomorrow. We'll make a dinner."


	6. The Dinner

**6\. The Dinner**

When Stiles tells Gerard, Chris, Victoria and Allison about the Hale family at their own family dinner, it's like the world stops turning. Gerard is positively gleaming and Stiles knows it can't be a good sign. He has no reason to protect the Hales, really, but he knows that something inside him would be destroyed if Derek were ever hurt. He keeps mentioning how nice Derek is, how nice his family seems through what he tells Stiles of them, but it all goes in one ear and out the other for Gerard. Stiles isn't sure what he's going to tell Gerard when he decides he wants Stiles to betray Derek. Because he knows he can't. He knows it.

Chris talks about how influential Talia Hale has been in the Were community. He gives Allison and Stiles a briefing on her and all of her accomplishments, or, the ones that are readily available for confirmation and documentation. He says that Talia is known for being a diplomat in the supernatural world that she is one of the rarest Weres in the world, because she can take the form of a real wolf. Stiles takes an interest in that right away, because he knows he's never heard of a Were being able to take the true form of a wolf. He has met Weres that were Turned by bites, by scratches and he's met Weres that were born that way. None of them were able to do something like that.

"Ask her about it," Gerard suggests casually, "If you're her son's mate, she'll probably like your interest in her."

Chris looks suspiciously at Gerard, but eventually gives his attention back to Stiles and Allison and encourages Allison to drop Stiles at the Hale house the next day.

And so she does.

When they show up at the front door, on their lovely porch, Stiles and Allison can hear arguing behind it.

"Put that down, Shannon!" A man's voice comes.

A woman's voice rings back, "Peter, wear something decent."

"I don't think we should be encouraging this," A young boy's voice says.

"Oh, shush! It's a wonderful thing to find one's mate."

Another woman's voice joins and says, "He's bringing a _hunter_ into our _home_! I can't believe you're okay with this, Talia!"

"Michael. Stop that. Stop it. No," Derek's voice is recognizable over all the strangers', "No being weird. You're all going to pretend like we're functional."

"So, what? We don't scare off a dude that hunts monsters?"

"Don't use that word, young lady!"

"We're _literally_ a house full of werewolves! It's not a metaphor!"

Derek swings the door open, looking a little worse for wear. His hair is a little mussed, his cheeks are rosy and his eyes are sparkling nervously and brightly. His family is scattered around behind him, in all stages of interest.

_Judgmental Eyebrows run in the family_ , Stiles thinks to himself.

Allison looks a little pale, but he feels at rest, looking at Derek. Derek looks so adoringly at him, it's hard to feel scared. He looks in surprise at Allison and mentions,

"I didn't know you were bringing your sister."

"I'm not," Stiles utters.

He clears his throat and looks to Allison. He gives her this, 'go away now,' look that has her backing off the porch. She stammers,

"Uh, y-yeah, no, I was just here to uh, to make sure he made it here okay."

Derek quirks a brow at her and Laura appears next to him and says loudly enough for Allison to hear,

"She means she wanted to make sure we didn't cook him in our little werewolf ovens and eat him for dinner."

Allison swallows loudly and Stiles glances awkwardly at her. She looks to Stiles and says,

"Uhm. Shoot a text. Whenever you're ready. For a pick up. I'll, uh. Be…home."

She doesn't even say goodbye to the family before getting back in her car and zooming away. Stiles doesn't exactly blame her. He looks at Derek apologetically,

"Sorry about her. This is… a lot for her to take in," Stiles says, as though he's apologizing for his racist grandmother.

Derek nods, but Laura continues to look skeptical. A little girl swings around Derek's long leg and blinks big, dark eyes at him.

"Who's this guy?"

"This is Stiles, Cora," Laura introduces with a smirk. She crosses her arms proudly, like she knows Cora will be hard on him and she's looking forward to it. Stiles isn't scared of Cora at first, she can't be older than five or six.

"Why is he here?" She asks.

Derek is still staring lovingly at Stiles when he says softly, "Because he's my mate."

"That only happens in stories," Cora argues, disbelievingly.

That piques Stiles' interest. He would like to know what kind of stories. Is this a Disney tale for Weres? Does this not happen in their reality anymore?

"Yeah," Derek smiles dreamily, "It does."

Cora looks between Stiles and Derek and rolls her eyes before deciding, "You're gross!"

Laura smiles after Cora as she hops away from them. A strong, intimidating man comes up behind Derek and gestures inside with his huge arm. He says simply,

"Come in, Stiles."

When Stiles does step inside, his entire body is flooded with the feeling of home. _Home. Home, home, home, home._

Something he hasn't felt since his parents were killed. And as much as he loves Allison and Chris (Victoria and Gerard, not so much), he never felt at home. _Here_ , though. The kitchen smells like cinnamon and dough and a fireplace is crackling in the living room that's lined from floor to ceiling with books. The staircase leads to a second floor that Stiles can tell is where all the bedrooms lie, one after another. The dining room is decorated neatly and it looks like the 'good china' is out. He swallows a little nervously at the idea that he is some kind of honored guest.

He feels like he wants to cry, because he's starting to feel at peace for the first time in years and he hardly knows these people. His gaze is captured by a tall woman with black hair and her eyes are clear and powerful. She exudes confidence and wisdom and he knows it's Talia before she introduces herself.

"Hello, Stiles."

"Hi," He says weakly.

"Don't be nervous," She says sweetly.

" _Literal_ den of wolves," Laura stresses, "LITERAL."

Talia smiles like she's holding back a laugh and her eyes glimmer with pride when Derek snakes his fingers in between Stiles'. Stiles doesn't understand why they seem to approve of him. He doesn't get why they're letting a hunter into their home – but he wants to stay. He wants to stay so badly.

"Let's all sit for dinner and get to know each other," Talia begins, leading them all to the dining room table.

"Uh, what _is_ for dinner?" Stiles asks curiously.

Who Stiles assumes is Michael speaks up, "Deer we hunted this morning."

Stiles freezes and pales and the family starts laughing boisterously at him. He relaxes at the sound and Derek squeezes his hand a little.

"It's skirt steak, steamed vegetables and rice. Mom made her special sweet potato pie for tonight, so make sure you save room for it."

Stiles smiles at him and Derek adds, "And relax. No one is out to get you."

"I'm out to get him," Laura pipes in.

Derek throws her a look and Stiles has to laugh, because he thinks Laura and Allison will get on very nicely someday.

At the dining table, the family runs through their names for him and all of them preface that they don't expect him to memorize everyone. He still feels the pressure. Stiles is a fast learner, though and he knows he won't forget anyone's name because the hunter in him is developing mental profiles.

Michael, Derek's older brother, is a joker and has the loudest laugh. He's in college, but he's home for Talia's birthday, which will be later in the week. He's studying medicine. Laura is a senior at Beacon Hills High and Derek, of course, is a junior, alongside Stiles which they commiserate about together.

Derek's father, Dominic is a mechanic at a local car repair shop and he's a quiet, gentle giant. Derek's uncle Peter is a bit strange, but he seems to really love his wife and children. Peter works in finance for an architecture company, his human wife Jane stays at home with their children, Andrew, Shannon and Noah. Shannon and Noah are twins, only five months old and both human. Andrew is a Were and he is three years old and very eloquent. He really likes talking about shapes and orangutans and Stiles enjoys him.

Elizabeth, Derek's grandmother, is Dominic's mother. She is a human, but very loyal to the Weres. She is cautious of Stiles and she doesn't let him forget it. She isn't rude to him, by any stretch, but she isn't exactly warm and welcoming either. Stiles finds out through implications in conversation that Dominic was once human, but Talia Turned him when they decided they were going to get married. They have been together for almost twenty-five years.

Talia works from home as a freelance writer and her youngest is Cora, who is five years old and very sassy. She seems normal and flighty, but the moment she thinks she can get something she wants, she turns on the sinister charm. Stiles thinks she'd do well as a hunter, but knows how sick that sounds in his head. He stops thinking about hunting.

He stops taking 'intel' and starts listening. Because, through the spiderweb of connections and relationships, he sees the painting of a family. There's a hustle and bustle to it all that is so reminiscent of his old life with his parents, that he gets weak in the knees. He is asked about what his parents do, aside from hunt, and he shares that they are his adoptive family and that a feral omega killed his parents when he was nine. Derek squeezes his hand under the table and the family asks him all kinds of questions about what life is like for him now.

He helps clean dishes with Talia and Michael, while the others start setting the table for dessert and Jane goes to check on the sleeping twins. He asks what changed Talia's mind about allowing Derek close to him and she and Michael start talking about highly unpleasant training he had to endure to ensure Stiles' safety. Talia prefaced these stories by say,

"You might think we're barbaric for it, but it's for your safety."

"There was a lot of ice buckets and electric dog collars," Michaels adds.

Talia explains that the training is about teaching Derek resistance and control over his impulses. And yes, it involved a lot of ice baths and electricity. Respectively, that is.

Derek interupts the stories when Michael starts telling one that involves Derek crying during the training. Stiles thinks he'd have cried too. He doesn't hear the end of the story, but it started badly and probably ended worse.

He excuses himself before dessert, says he'd like to wash up a little before he eats again and when he closes the door to the bathroom, he sits on the toilet seat and sighs shakily. His eyes well up a little and his heart feels like it's brimming and ready to burst. He's not in there for a minute before a knock comes and the door opens to Derek. He looks a little shy and a little worried and he says,

"I just wanted to make sure you're okay. It smelled… sad, up here."

Stiles shakes his head and laughs at the strangeness of the idea. He admits,

"No. I love it here. I love this."

Derek comes inside the bathroom and closes the door and Stiles lets himself be enveloped by Derek. His arms are strong and firm and they're keeping him from floating away. He's shaky and Derek must be worried about it, but he doesn't know how to articulate what he's feeling. Overwhelming gratitude. The threat of hope. Of happiness. In a place he didn't expect to find it.

"I love this so much. Your family – they're amazing. Your home… it's home, here. Your family and your house and your life – I love it. I love this. I _want_ this."

Derek nods and pulls away enough to touch the tip of his nose to Stiles' and he says,

"Okay."

Stiles sniffles a little and asks, "What?"

"You can have it. I like you, Stiles. I want you around. My family likes you. Destiny tied us. I was meant to find you – or you, me. This is precisely where you should be."

"Thank you," Stiles manages, before he can't stop himself and he kisses Derek.

Derek doesn't quite know what to do at first, but soon he is grabbing onto Stiles' jaw and keeping him in place so he can deepen their kiss and roll his body more into Stiles'. They share a few quiet moments of that before Derek pulls away. His eyes are glowing around the rims of his irises and he says,

"We should go back down. My family is waiting on us for pie."

"Okay," Stiles agrees sweetly while he wonders how much control it takes Derek to break a kiss with him.

He's relaxed. He feels rested and content. Because it feels like, for the first time in a long time, that he has his whole life ahead of him. It feels like, suddenly, he has all the time in the world to kiss Derek and awaken parts of himself he didn't know existed. Derek takes his hand and leads him back downstairs. Dessert is filled with laughter and Stiles doesn't text Allison to come get him until most of the Hales have gone off to bed.

When Allison picks him up, she's floored by Derek kissing Stiles on the porch. It's not lewd or scandalous, just a very sure, sweet kiss, but that he does it in front of her makes her uneasy. Stiles waves goodbye to Derek and buckles into the car. While Allison is driving, she asks,

"So, did you learn anything about Talia?"

"She writes for the Herald! Did you know that?" Stiles fights the feeling that he's colder now, away from his home, "She graduated from Berkely with a bachelor's in linguistics. She also used to teach defense classes at the Y!"

"No," Allison says in a weird, choked off confusion, "No, like, did you learn anything about her wolf form?"

"What?" Stiles asks, "No. I… didn't ask. It wasn't… like that."

Allison gives him a worried look.

"They're incredible, Allison."

"Don't," She says, strictly, "Don't start."

Stiles is used to being shut down by Gerard and Victoria, but not Allison. He doesn't fight her on it. He puts his head down and looks out the window for the ride home. It's not until they're in the driveway that Allison asks,

"Do you like him? Or is it the bond?"

"I like him," Stiles says confidently, "He bakes his mom's birthday cake every year. He likes the same comics as me. He's funny," Stiles breaks to smile broadly at the memory of laughing himself into silent hysteria at a dumb joke Derek told, "He's _really_ funny. He's failing Trig and I told him I'd help him. I'm going to go over to his house after school tomorrow."

"You know what Gerard is going to want you to do, right? I don't have to remind you?"

Stiles shakes his head and says, "I always find another way. Won't be any different this time."


	7. The Run

**7\. The Run**

For a few weeks, life is blissful.

Stiles stays after school to tutor Derek, then they go to Derek's house and try to get homework done, but it usually ends up with them on the floor making out. Not that Stiles is complaining.

Gerard continues researching breaking the bonds between mates and Stiles is amazed at how level-headed Gerard is being. He's still hateful and cruel about Weres, but he seems genuinely concerned about Stiles. He never knew Gerard cared and so it comes as a sort of shock. Gerard and Victoria stay out of his way and he spends most of every day with Derek, to Allison's worried dismay.

Derek buys him coffee just the way he likes it (without ever having asked) and insists that Stiles stay put on the porch while he mows the lawn because he _swears_ it won't take long. Laura makes homemade sweet tea and lemonade and when she sits on the porch with him, she yells at Derek to take his shirt off for his boyfriend. Derek grins so wildly at the word that he doesn't even stop the machine before ripping his shirt over his head. Stiles laughs and Laura winks at him and he enjoys the view. He decides that if shirtless Derek Hale is a portrait of beauty, then shirtless Derek Hale beaded with sweat and sprinkled with dirt here and there is a sculpture of divinity.

He plays Uno with them on family game night and is teased with the 'we can't talk about Monopoly after Derek's incident last year' with no explanation. Peter helps him write a paper about The Great Gatsby for his English class and Cora forces him to watch three hours of Sailor Moon (and he enjoys it). Talia starts buying groceries specifically for Stiles — snacks in the pantry that no one else could possibly want but him. Derek just tells him that he comes over enough, he should have what he wants there.

Laura goes dress-shopping for one of her friends' birthday parties and she lets Stiles and Derek help her shop. Derek tries one on to prove he looks better in plum than Laura does. Stiles and Laura, through disruptive laughter, begrudgingly agree that he does. Dominic shares that he's working on restoring an old Jeep that he'd gladly give to Stiles once he has his license. Stiles almost cries and so Derek hugs him and Dominic says to him, "You're a good egg, son."

Turns out that Jane is a karaoke addict and goes to a pub every Wednesday night and drags the family along. Laura, Derek, Jane, Talia and Dominic go to a local bar called Pete's Place and they take Stiles along. It's a night that Derek makes Stiles feel so free and light, he actually sings.

Granted, it's a Spice Girls song that he duets with Laura, but when he sees Derek laughing hysterically at their table, he decides he's in love with him. He's in love with Derek. Derek and his soft hair and his bleeding heart, Derek and his strong muscles and weak math skills. Derek and his consistent theft of the family-sized Nutella jar he keeps under his bed, Derek and the way he needs replacements for his sneakers every other month, Derek and his Zelda wallet. Derek, Derek, Derek.

On the way home from school one day, Derek makes Laura stop the camaro to pick up an injured squirrel. Stiles insists that it might bite him, but Derek shrugs and says,

"And what will it do to me? I heal more quickly than anything it can give me."

He, Laura and Stiles go to an animal hospital with the baby squirrel and when a vet tells Derek that they brought the baby in just in time to save it's life, Stiles sighs in relief. Derek sags and asks to see the little baby and they allow him to. While he's in the back, Stiles looks at Laura and asks,

"Is he always like this? Or is he trying to impress me?"

Laura snorts sardonically and says, "He's shit at impressing people. He doesn't know how to play people. He's too honest."

Stiles nods and lets it go until Laura mentions, "After Paige… he just won't let anything suffer or die. Even animals. If he can help it."

Stiles gives her a significant look to let her know he understands how profound the moment is. So that she knows how appreciated her insight is. She nods to him and the weight of her disapproval is finally lifted.

When Derek comes back out, he's smiling and he announces,

"He grabbed my finger."

"We can't keep him," Laura tells him.

Derek frowns, "What? Why?"

Laura rolls her eyes and says, "We have human babies at home. Squirrels rip things up and bite on people and poop wherever they want. He should be released back into the neighborhood once he's ready."

Derek crosses his arms petulantly and pouts. Stiles laughs at him and Laura shakes her head and smiles.

Once they get home, Derek invites Stiles to a Run.

"My brother will be there. And… the rest of the pack will be there too."

Stiles furrows his brow, "There's more Hales? I don't believe you."

Derek laughs and says, "I've got more cousins and my aunts and uncles are coming. We only do it once a year for a harvest moon. And I want you to come."

"I can't keep up with you guys once you shift," Stiles reasons.

Derek tilts his head and argues, "Well, you could always ride on my back."

"What? No!"

Derek smirks and before Stiles can even inch in the other direction, he's being fireman-carried across the front lawn. Cora and Andrew are on the front porch laughing at him and he can't help but wonder what it might be like. He relaxes in Derek's hold and Derek manuevers him into a piggy-back. He looks over his shoulder to Stiles and Stiles leans down and kisses the corner of Derek's lips.

He smiles and says,

"Alright. I'll come."

* * *

Gerard tells him all about Runs and the traditions involved. He and Chris explain that it's a highly unusual thing to be invited, as a human and more over, as a non-pack member. Victoria bakes an apple cake and they send Stiles with it, saying it's polite to bring food. The party after the Run is apparently very significant and after the Run, the entire pack is likely to stay inside like hibernating bears. They'll shift in the harvest moonlight, run and wrestle and then return home to eat and recover their energy and strength. Stiles shrugs, thinks it will be a breeze. Allison warns him to be careful, and without thinking, he says to her,

"I'm always safe when I'm with Derek."

They're both caught off guard by it and she says more than asks,

"You love him. Don't you?"

Stiles tries to deny it, but he's pretty sure she already knows.

The Run falls on a Sunday night. And as it turns out, is much more than just a run and wrestle parade.

The Hale pack is humongous in front of him. They all decorate the front porch and lawn; Elizabeth, Dominic, Dominic's three sisters (Marina, Trixie and Anne — both Marina and Anne were turned by Talia in solidarity with their brother), their five children (Robbie Jr., Theo, Maddie, Lyla and Ben) and spouses (two are married to men, (Robert Senior and Thomas) and one is married to another woman, Nicole), Talia, Jane, Peter, Michael, Laura, Derek, Cora and Andrew. The twins are even babbling away at each other in their footy-pajamas, sitting on the floor of the porch.

Allison refuses to meet them and leaves as soon as Stiles steps out of the car. He gets the feeling that she's protecting her big heart rather than being cold out of hatred. Marina is the first person to approach him. She looks older than Dominic and her eyes are already glowing gold. She cups his face and examines him like a fruit in the produce aisle. She says,

"He's beautiful, Derek."

Stiles blushes a little and gestures at the cake he's holding.

"Uh. Where do I put this?"

Talia approaches, eyes glowing red and she takes the food from him. She smiles with sharp fangs and says,

"Thank you, sweetheart."

When Derek descends the stairs, Stiles can see why Derek is worried about his eyes. Of the huge family, his are the only ones glowing blue. He looks nervous. His fangs are bigger than his mother's, but he looks too small for them. Stiles hopes that his company will make Derek feel big again.

He wants Derek to know he's beautiful and wonderful. He runs up to Derek and kisses his mouth, fear of his fangs long in the past. Derek looks flustered and surprised when Stiles pulls away and the family all shares happy noises and chuckles. Derek scratches the back of his neck nervously, but Stiles can see the relief in Derek's eyes. Swirling and glowing and electric blue and turqouise green.

The night starts with a bonfire and they roast marshmallows and Andrew gets a sugar high and plays too rough with Cora. Cora whoops him. They sing two traditional hymns in Latin that Stiles decides he adores and wants to research, then the humans start heading inside. The youngest ones stay by their parents and the Weres seem to pair up.

Derek takes Stiles on his back and when they start running, Stiles makes an embarrasing noise. He hears Laura and Talia laugh at him. Derek's growl is more like a purr and his speed is neck-to-neck with his mother and Michael. It feels like flying. For hours, Stiles holds on tightly while Derek makes rough turns and jumps over boulders and picks up speed.

Over a clearing, in the bright, oversized moonlight, Talia shifts into a black wolf and skids to a halt. She rids herself of the robe she'd been wearing and howls. Her betas all howl back and when Derek nudges Stiles' leg, he howls too. No one laughs at him, like he expects. When glowing eyes do fall on him, the howls have stopped and he feels the bond. He gets why he was invited.

He's pack now.

He hugs Derek from behind and whispers,

"I love you."

Derek emits a fantastic howl and the whole pack howls with him. Talia yips and they all start running again. Derek holds Stiles' legs a little tighter and Stiles can feel the energy surging through him. Derek can't quite speak, so shifted, but he knows Derek is buzzing with the anxiety to say it back.

Stiles believes magic and destiny for the night. He believes that everything awful that's happened, every lonely, scary night was worth it, because it was making him worthy of this moment. Of being part of something so incredible.


	8. The Fire

**8\. The Fire**

Stiles, Laura and Derek leave for school together only an hour after arriving back from the Run. Derek and Laura are so exhausted, Stiles can't even complain about not getting sleep. Derek's got circles under his eyes and Laura keeps nodding off, but they both still appear glow with a health and happiness he's only beginning to understand. Stiles kisses Derek in the hallway that morning. And Derek tells him,

"I love you back, you know. I love you."

Stiles nods and says, "Well, you invited me to the tightest Were party in history, so I got the feeling you dug me a little."

He chuckles and kisses Stiles' cheek, whispers in his ear,

"Stay with me. Forever."

Stiles nods, sleepily and feeling like he's still floating in a dream. He agrees,

"Forever."

Derek's eyes glisten and sparkle with his smile and he kisses Stiles once more before leaving for his own classes.

It's not even noon when he hears Laura scream.

He runs out of his Chem class and into the hall where Laura and Derek are being approached by police deputies and the principal. Derek looks lost and frightened and Stiles' heart starts to feel splintered. A few other classmates start coming out into the hall to look and see and teachers start checking too. Derek's eyes find Stiles while Laura screams at one of the deputies that they've got the wrong family. Derek's eyes brim with tears and he whispers,

"You did this."

Stiles doesn't know how he heard it. He suspects that becoming a pack member and strengthening his bond with Derek gave him the ability, but he heard it. He heard Derek's voice grow from that whisper into an angry shout,

"You did this! You did this!"

Stiles doesn't back up when Derek comes charging at him, because he doesn't know what's happening. All he knows is that he isn't scared of Derek. Derek loves him.

Laura tugs him back before he's even a few feet from her.

"What happened? What's going on?" Stiles asks helplessly.

Derek's eyes are starting to glow and Stiles worries that people are going to notice.

"Derek," Laura commands.

Stiles looks to her and sees her eyes glow red.

And he knows what's happened.

"No," He denies.

Derek's breathing is getting hard and loud and the deputies are encouraging the siblings to move away from Stiles and they're telling the teachers and students in the hall to go back into their rooms. Most of them listen. Stiles takes a step closer to them and he feels Derek's growl and never hears it.

Stiles shakes his head and says, "No — no, I didn't — I swear, Derek, I'd never — I'd _never_."

The deputies manuever Derek and Laura away.

And Stiles doesn't see them again.


	9. The Fight

**9\. The Fight**

Stiles tries calling and texting both Laura and Derek, but gets no reply. When he calls the Hale house, the line is dead and he is too frightened to go to the house himself.

He doesn't know what's happened until he gets home.

Gerard tells him he'd never expect Stiles to kill them. He found through all of his research that the bonds couldn't be broken, but through death and had assumed that Derek and Laura were staying home from school that day. He had assumed they were going to drop Stiles at school and return home, to rest with their pack. He had assumed he could kill the entire Hale pack in one go and relieve Stiles of his mate bond to the Were. Stiles was held back when he went to kill Gerard. And he meant to. He meant to kill Gerard.

He begged Allison to tell him if she knew. If she'd known all along and she cried and told him no, that they hadn't told her — they probably knew she'd have warned him. Chris looks ashamed to be in Stiles' presence when he admits that the only living Hales now are Derek, Laura and Peter, and that Peter is barely alive. Stiles screams and punches Chris in the gut when he puts a comforting hand on his shoulder. He runs out of the house after that and he hardly hears Gerard say,

"He'll recover."

He takes Allison's car, he drives it to the woods and all the while, all he can imagine are the twins. He imagines Noah, standing on his high-chair and babbling poetically — he remembers how the family would stop talking to let him know his babbling was important and they pretended to listen and understand him. He imagines Michael sleeping and snoring loudly on the couch, as Derek so often complains he does.

He imagines Cora and Andrew tackling each other and growling playfully around the bonfire, coloring on the porch, talking about the pro's and con's of circles versus rectangles. He thinks about Jane singing 'Come to my Window' at karaoke and Dominic teaching him how to tie a reef knot. He thinks about Talia typing away on her big screen Mac, of Elizabeth reading in the living room and trying to not laugh at Stiles' jokes. He won't see them again.

He'll never see them again.

He stops the car and doesn't bother turning off the lights before he steps out. He leaves the car door open and stumbles away from it while he cries. He curls his hands into fists and screams. The tension is still tight in his chest.

He wants to hold Derek. He wants to kiss Derek.

He wants to see his pack, he wants to touch them and smell their family scent and listen to Jane yell at Andrew to brush his teeth, yell at Peter to dress more nicely for their night out. He wants to hear Talia and Dominic humming in harmony while they wash dishes, he wants to see Laura compete with Michael for the last slice of pie. He wants to tuck the twins in. He wants to watch cartoons with Andrew and Cora. He wants them back.

He wants to scream again and he goes to, but it turns into a howl.

He howls and the tears come streaming down his face.

He holds his abdomen and mumbles to himself, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Talia. Dominic, Elizabeth — everyone — all of you, I'm sorry — I never meant to — I didn't know what Gerard was planning. I love you all. I loved you."

He sits down, casting a break between the lights of Allison's car. The soil is wet from the humid night air. He tilts his chin up and howls quietly, weakly.

And in the distance, he hears a howl echo back.


	10. The Homecoming

**10\. The Homecoming**

Stiles doesn't hear from Laura or Derek when they move. All he knows is through rumor. The rumors say that Derek and Laura had a God-mother in New York and they had left to be with her. Stiles tries texting and calling, but after a few months, he gets a text back saying that the number no longer belonged to someone named Derek and he must have the wrong number. After a few months of being fearful, he finally sees the remnants of the Hale house and he cries at the ashes. A week or so after that, he goes to the hospital to see Peter, but when he does, they say he's missing and that he'd been missing for weeks. He gives up.

And years pass.

As soon as he turns eighteen, he leaves the Argents.

He doesn't date — he can't. He doesn't sing. He doesn't go out, really. He doesn't laugh.

He doesn't recover.

But he gets used to it. He gets used to feeling broken and half awake. He gets used to the way that even his blood seems to drag lazily through his veins. The way his dreams are about fire and ash and Derek's frightened eyes. Allison ends up studying abroad, in Paris and Stiles goes to NYU. He doesn't do it on purpose, exactly. He thinks that Laura and Derek must be long gone from there by now, and he doesn't see them anyway. But it's a new place, filled with people. And maybe it'd give him some happiness. Maybe the hustle and bustle of the city would remind him of the Hale pack and give him a makeshift family again.

One night, after a particularly hard midterm during the last semester towards his B.A., he drives out for a few hours. He leaves New York and heads to Pennsylvania. He's as close to woods as you can get, so close to New York, and so he stops the car. He turns the engine off and sits on the hood of his car, off to the side of the road. He's watching the stars and then, through the woods across from him, he sees two bright blue eyes flashing his way.

He stills.

His heart pounds like a drum in his ear, his fingers start to tingle and his hairs start to stand on end. A man steps out, into the starlight and he's a stranger. But a stranger Stiles recognizes.

"Derek," He utters.

Donning stubble, much more muscle and what Stiles recognizes as his father's leather jacket, Derek looks entirely different. There is a sparkle still in his eyes — not as youthful and happy as it once was. He doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve anymore. He even looks guarded.

"Stiles."

And hearing his name — oh God, his name on Derek's lips — it's like a spell that brings him back to life. The wings he grew when Derek first held him shake off ash and spread for the first time in eight years. His blood crackles and starts rushing, he feels young and like color is flooding back into his vision. He stares in astonishment for a moment, and then asks quietly,

"Is Laura with you?"

He doesn't move. As if he's scared it's a dream and the moment he moves a muscle, it will end.

"She's not… it's just me."

Stiles' eyes communicate his misunderstanding and Derek explains, "Peter lost it. After everything. He killed her, wanted to be Alpha. I had to put him down."

Stiles feels nauseous at the news. Derek shifts on his feet a little and repeats,

"It's just me now."

Stiles remembers the whole Hale pack, standing on the front porch of the house in the woods. How intimidating and powerful they all were, standing around one another. Eyes glowing and children laughing.

And now stands only Derek.

Stiles' eyes start to water and he whispers,

"I'm so sorry."

"It wasn't your fault," Derek says knowingly, like he's been waiting for this exact moment for years, "It wasn't you. You didn't know."

"I should have known," Stiles insists as the tears start to fall. Derek used to smile when he spoke, he used to let his love glimmer in his eyes, he used to speak in run-on sentences and he's different. He's different, but Stiles feels the love ignite in him again. He adds, "Holy God, I've missed you. All of you."

Derek takes another step towards him and he slides off the front of his car. They both seem scared to touch one another. Stiles quotes Derek,

"I never meant to hurt them. And I'd never mean to hurt you."

Derek seems to remember what conversation Stiles pulled it from and smirks a little, looks at his feet. Stiles puts his hand out, to shake or to hold, to chop off — whatever Derek will do with him, he just wants to touch him. Derek looks at the hand unreadably and Stiles says,

"I've spent the past eight years dreaming about seeing you again. I just want to know you're real."

Derek walks into his space and nuzzles their noses together. Stiles' breath is punched out of him and another tear drops from his eyes. Derek's hands come to grip his wrists and everything excites in him. He feels full, he feels awake and alive again. Derek inhales in a way that Stiles knows means he's feeling it too. He's waking up inside, after almost a decade of a dreamless, restless sleep. Derek's lips brush his and he whispers, in a grown, deep voice that Stiles wants to write sonnets about,

"Stay with me."

Stiles hiccups on an aborted sob and nods vehemently. He answers back,

"Forever."


End file.
